93 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPT. 37, I*t7- 



{.'('iitleiniui of Viiffiiiia ; anil four tlmiisiiMd ilollaif 

 liy tlinse of I'liiladelj.liia city ai"! roiinty ; lint it 

 i.s lint known at piefeiit, exactly fniin what parts 

 of the Union ut:i-e the otliiT purchaser:*, though 

 they rauie from all directions. 'J'hc biildiiif; fur 

 the Cows was very spirited, prices rather exceed- 

 ing the expectation of the owners ; (or the Bidl>, 

 however, they fell short, making iiowever, alto- 

 gether, a good averngtr sale. Full lired cows arc 

 coui.iaratively scarce, and accordingly they hrought 

 superior prices. The following is a correct re- 

 I" 



The above are all from Mr VVIiittaker. 

 The following belonged to other owners, and 

 were not in the printed catalogue. 

 A Spanish Jac^k, 

 A Jennet and Colt, 

 Iinported Cow Isabella, - 

 Filzro-^lin, . . - 



A Heifer, - " 



Dido, 



$270 

 210 

 405 

 200 

 160 

 75 



WILSON'S fllOWING MACHINE. 



To (he Editor of tlic JV. Y. Cou. &■ E/17. 



Please allow me, through the tnrdiuin of your 

 paper, to lay before your readors, an account of 

 Wilson's Mowing Machine, which 1 had ttie great 

 satisfaction of witnessing in fill operatifui on the 

 farm of Judge A. Van Bergen, in the township 

 of CoxsackiCj on Monday, 7th .A\ignst,and which 

 1 rejt>ice in asserting, ex(!eede<l my most sanguine 

 expectations. .It was propelled by one luuse, and 

 cm a swatli of four feet as fast as the horse could 

 walk, whicli I suppose to he at the rate of four 

 and a half miles per hour, cutting perfectly smooth 

 and no doubt falling a greater weight of grass 

 thin is usual !iy thebtst mowers, as its cut is more 

 regular and closer to the sod, at tlic same time so 

 hiving the grass in winrow, as to supersede the 

 necessity of spreailing, by which great time and 

 labor is saved. It is so constructed that tliB grass 

 or grain can be cut, leaving the stubbli! at any 

 given height, from one and a half inches U|iward.s, 

 by means of a screw at the bottom of the upright 

 shaft. The knives, six in number, are screwed on 

 the pcriplicry of a cylinder wheel, which revolves 

 with great rapidity when in operation, and a cou. 

 slant fine edge is preserved by me;ius of two rilles 

 or slonos that are very ingeniously applied to their 

 edue by springs, and managed by thumb screws 

 so as to operate as the nature of ilie case may re- 

 quire. The hor.se travels behind the machiiio in 

 long sliufis that are snsjiended by clinius from a 



pair passingover the moving wheels, and by means 

 of two boxes at the extremity of the shafts lor 

 holding weights, the heft of the draft is brought 

 behind the horsp, causing tiie machine to be ea- 

 sily propelled ami managed. Indeed its whole ar- 

 r.iiigemeiit is in excellent keeping, and its opera- 

 tion perfect. It must, wilhoui doubt, become to 

 the fjirining interest of our country, a great desi- 

 deratum. Mr W ilson deserves more than he can 

 possibly riceivp, for completing that which so 

 n.any hundreds have failed 'o accomplish, and 



whid isl be the means of opening a new era 



in the agricnllnral pursuits of the coiiiiiry. When 

 we reflect that mowing grass and cutting grain 

 are the most essential labor of the farm, and that 

 it must be performed at a particular time, or the 

 hope and dependence of the farmer is Idighted 

 and lost, and that in the present mode of obtain- 

 ing the harvest, he is placed almost entirely at the 

 mercy of laborers, who at times are not to be had 

 under any circumstances, the importance of this 

 highly valuable machine, cannot fail to elicit the 

 interest of every well wisher of his country, and 

 the assistance of every enler|uising man, for its 

 speedy introduction into general use. I have been 

 thus particular in my remarks, having been so 

 highly gratified in witnessing its complete success 

 ill hope to convey the information to the many 

 who should know,^anH join in aiding and ailvanc. 

 ing an improvement in agriculture, that must op- 

 erate greatly in producing tlie eflect so much de- 

 sired, in reducing flour, beef, and indeed all the 

 articles of consumption, to that ratio which will 

 enable our vast population to partake of the nour- 

 ishments. The cultivators of land in the west, 

 may now fatten as many cattle as they think pro- 

 per, fer they can find no difficulty in cutting the 

 grass necessary for sustaining them during the 

 winter, which has hitherto been prevented, as the 

 labor was not to be obtained nt any price. Indeed 

 I could mention numerous other advantages aris- 

 ing from this tru!y valuable labor-saving machine, 

 hut I shall leave it for some future opportunity : 

 yet 1 cannot close these remarks without express- 

 ing a hope that Capt. Wilson will receive what 

 he most justly merits, a full reward for his inge- 

 nuity, perseverance and industry in accomplish- 

 ing so flesirable an object. 



1 am, Sir, with respect, yours truly, 



J} Greene County Farmer. 



CORlV-STAI„K FODDER. 



Ill the last number was given an account of 

 feeding milch cows with steamed corn stalks ; — 

 and, it will be observed, that the quantity of food 

 whii^i kept the cows in good niiiking order, was 

 very Biiiall when compared with what is usually 

 coiisnmed in dry fodder. We had fed both cows 

 and horses, on stalks cut fine in the same way, 

 but had given them in a dry state, for several 

 years before thesteam was adopted; but no [com- 

 parison can be drawn, as to the saving of food by 

 steaming from this trial, as the stalks had been 

 given hi waste. 'I'he mangers were filled, and 

 when feeding time came, that which was not 

 (roiisumed, was thrown under ihein for a bedding, 

 no economy being necessary, as the stalks were 

 plenty. 



During the first year of feeding stalks in this 

 way, we did not think of giving them to the hor- 

 ses, not yet having learned their value; but on 

 passing by the horses's stalls one day with young 

 U?von, some were thrown to the horses, whicli 



were standing to clover hay — they ate the sia.ks^ 

 very heartily in preference, and from that time 

 we' have never fed a horse with hay. 



One of the horses was driven into town twice 

 every day; and that one had an allowance of 

 grain. But the other two vcere only used occa- 

 sionally, and had no grain, unless they were taken 

 out to draw a load of wood or were driven to 

 town in a carriage, when in such cases they had 

 a small allowance of grain given them. 'I he ipian- • 

 tity of stalks they ate cannot he estimated, as they 

 were given to them as to the cows, without re- 

 serve. Our horses never w nler»d belter h hni 

 fell on the best ckver or timothy hay. 



'I he man who attended to feeding was an ex- 

 perieni ed feeder from England, and coijsei]ui nt- 

 ly. Was very much averse to the innovation of did 

 customs, but before the spring, he bei aine con- 

 vinced of the value of this food, and reconciled 

 to its use. About eight acres of corn, which pro- 

 duced from thirty-five to forty bushels of corn to 

 the acre, furnished the stalks which were siifli- 

 cienl to keep ten milch cows, three horses, and 

 one young heifer for five niontli.s. 



Our experii;iice goes to confirm the idea, that 

 the portion of ecrn-slalk wtiicli is below the ear, 

 and is snflVred to be lost, in the usual way of 

 saving fodder, is of more value as food and ma- 

 nure, than the portion which is usually saved ; 



and that this portion, which is left standing, and 

 IS lost both as food and manure, is worth more, 

 when juoperly used, than a crop of clover whicli 

 the same ground would produce. 



When it is taken into consideration tlie loss in 

 the crop of corn by the [u-esent method of inju- 

 diciously iiiiitilaliug the green stalk, which has 

 bebii shown to anioiint to one filili of the whole 

 crop of grain ; anil, thiil the present practice in- 

 volves a loss in the fodder which equals the whole 

 produce of the land for one year when laid down 

 in clover, it would be supposed this subject must ' 

 recommend itself to the most inattentive farmer, 

 if lie lias any regard to his own interest. 



Farmer Sf Gardener. 



Potato Crop. — From present appearances, we 

 should judge that the potato crop will be a large 

 one this year. The tops have grown very remark- 

 ably, and the season thus fiir, has been very fa- 

 vorable for the root or tuber. 



We have remarked one thing in regard to this 

 crop, the present season, that we have not seen 

 many years; that is, the uncommonly great num- 

 ber of blossoms that they have put out. When ' 

 ill full bloom many fields resembled a vast flower j 

 garden, and made a very fine appearance. ' Don't ', 

 you think the paralis make a grand show with 

 their cockades on ?' said a I'aildy to ns one day — 

 'I've no fear of the childers starving when I see 

 that.' — .Maine Farmer. 



Prolific Ghain. — We are informed that Cyrus 

 Davis of Royalston, raised, the present -season, 88 

 heads of rye from a single kernel. Seven of them 

 were so young, when gathered, that the grain had 

 filled out til them. T he other 81 heads contain- 

 ed 3542 kernels, measuring 7-Stlis of a gill. 



Worcester Spy. 



A Good Onk. — Mr Asa C. Edwards of Nor- 

 wich, cut a (ew spears of herds-gr.iss from a field • 

 of his, which were six feet three inches long. — ; 

 Uumpshire Gazelle. 



